


Sliding Doors

by neversaydie



Series: more than you bargained for [3]
Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Awkwardness, Bisexuality, F/M, Gender Identity, Guess who, Interns & Internships, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Polyamory, Pre-Canon, Surprise guest - Freeform, nonbinary ben, useless production intern ben arnold, vague barely implied references to past eating disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 05:11:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14730591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neversaydie/pseuds/neversaydie
Summary: "What, I'm too ugly for broadcast?" Ben makes a kissy face and Nisha pretends to be disgusted. "I'll get there."Nisha reaches out with one slender finger and taps the side of one of the cups, and it takes a second for Ben to realise she's pointing out the polish on his nails. It's not super obvious, just a little silver which is barely even shiny (and that he managed to chip immediately after applying), but it's glaringly apparent when she points it out with that questioning twist of her lip.Suddenly, in a packed elevator full of his superiors, Ben feelsnaked."That's why you won't make it to broadcast."[in which Ben and his bf and gf are production interns, and he has an awkward encounter in the hall.]





	Sliding Doors

The traffic light changes just before Ben can catch it, and he jogs across the intersection trying to balance three takeout cups and flip the bird at a blaring horn at the same time. His shorts are too big since he's lost weight recently (just from all the running around, he keeps having to reassure his mom every time they Skype), and he sets the cups on a wall for a moment to yank them up before he walks around the corner to the studio. It's a vague nod to professionalism… and not having his boxers on display.

Nisha is out front waiting, and Ben can't help kissing her on the cheek when she lights up at the sight of him, despite the fact she's usually fairly strict about keeping their relationship a secret at work. He'll never get over someone being happy to see him.

"That one's the hot chocolate, I think," he awkwardly hands her one of the cups while trying to keep the other two from falling. He's made it this far, he's not failing his caffeine mission at the last hurdle.

"Nice white boy shorts," Nisha smirks, then lets out a little yelp when Ben acts like he's going to trip her on their way into the building. "Dick."

"They're the only things that fit. I need new jeans," he shrugs, trying to change which fingers are touching the hot cups as they wait for the elevator. "Plus the pockets are super useful."

"You know, if you let them turn you into a runner you'll never move up the ladder," Nisha sips her drink delicately and gives him a pointed look. Ben shrugs, slightly embarrassed because that's exactly what he's doing, but he's always been a people pleaser. He finds saying no to people… difficult.

"Josh is in today, right?" They crowd into the elevator with the rest of the morning shift, and Ben does his best to avoid getting coffee on anyone's suit… like he has the last three times he's attempted the coffee run. A couple of the regulars make sure to stay far away from his precarious sense of balance, because he's starting to get a reputation for stains around here. "I can't fund his latte habit if he isn't here to drink it."

"Yeah he's in, I think they're letting him read the weather upstairs since the regular girl didn't show up," she registers the twist of Ben's mouth assessingly. "Radio is always an option for you, you know. You've got a good voice."

"What, I'm too ugly for broadcast?" Ben makes a kissy face and Nisha pretends to be disgusted. "I'll get there."

Nisha reaches out with one slender finger and taps the side of one of the cups, and it takes a second for Ben to realise she's pointing out the polish on his nails. It's not super obvious, just a little silver which is barely even shiny (and that he managed to chip immediately after applying), but it's glaringly apparent when she points it out with that questioning curl of her lip.

Suddenly, in a packed elevator full of his superiors, Ben feels  _naked_.

" _That's_  why you won't make it to broadcast," she raises an eyebrow pointedly and then reaches down to squeeze his side a little where no one can see. An apology, of sorts, for bringing harsh reality into his world. "Be realistic. We've all got to make sacrifices to get where we want to be, Benny."

"Ben," he mutters, not meeting her eyes.

They spend the rest of the ride in professional silence.

"Hey!" Josh bounces up to Ben when he steps off the elevator, having waved Nisha off a floor earlier, and pulls him into a tight hug. Ben slops coffee on his hand and doesn't even care about the burn.

Josh and Nisha have very different approaches to keeping their relationship quiet at the studio… in that Josh takes it upon himself to smother Ben with affection whenever possible, and Nisha usually pretends he doesn't exist. Ben supposes the whole poly thing is pretty unusual, and it certainly suits Nisha for people to think he and Josh are a couple without her in the picture, but it does make him sad to feel like a dirty little secret sometimes.

"They let you on the air?"

"They let me on the air!" Josh grins and takes a cup from Ben with a quick, sloppy peck on the lips, and Ben ducks his head to hide his pink cheeks. To say he's starved for affection would be an understatement, and Josh always makes a valiant effort to help with that. "It was really good. I didn't even flub the morning guy's name like Annie always does."

"Good job, dude," Ben grins, tamping down his own disappointment in favour of being happy for his boyfriend. If he hadn't volunteered to get coffee this morning, that could have been him. "Would've tuned in if I'd known."

"Aw, you'll hear me again. I'm gonna be a radio big shot in no time," Josh takes a sip of coffee and grimaces, swapping the cups over since he can't stand the taste of the non-dairy milk Ben drinks as a half-hearted gesture towards keeping kosher. "Hey, cute nails."

"I should've taken it off for work," Ben shrugs and sticks his free hand in the pocket of his baggy shorts, resisting the urge to sink into himself and hide. He's already short, he doesn't need to look any smaller. "Nish doesn't approve."

"Yeah, well. You know she's got a stick up her ass about professionalism,"Josh rolls his eyes affectionately. He and Nisha have a more playfully antagonistic relationship than either of them do with Ben, who can get a bit too worried he's actually pissed them off for light-hearted arguing. "You can tell she's the straight one, sometimes."

Ben opens and closes his mouth for a second, as he goes to deny that anyone who dates him can be straight… and then stops himself. Nisha is a woman dating two men, which he figures is as het as it gets… even if it makes him feel a little weird to think about himself like that - as a Category Defined Man.

He needs to get a grip - just because he paints his nails sometimes, and maybe feels weird about being lumped in with all the other guys, it doesn't mean he can start getting stupid ideas about this whole thing. It's not even a  _thing_ , it's just-

"Earth to Ben," Josh lightly kicks the side of his shoe and Ben snaps out of his head, coming back to the present with a bump. Josh tilts his head as he looks at him, at once fond and a little concerned… which is how most people look when Ben is with them. "You around for lunch today?"

"Uh… Yeah, I think so. Got a break around one," hopefully, unless he manages to fuck up the tape archive and spend his lunch break reorganising it… again. He knows what he's doing, mostly, it's just that Kowalski - his current boss - has taken a dislike to him and keeps moving the goalposts faster than Ben can keep up.

"Cool. Text me and I'll come with, I want dim sum and I wanna see you eat," Josh leans in for a slightly more lingering kiss this time, since the hallway is empty. "I better run, we got some fucking shock jock guesting upstairs and the guy's driving me nuts. Frat boy asshole type."

"Don't say that too loud," Ben laughs, because Josh somehow always manages to cheer him up - even when his brain is doing something weird in the background. "We can't both get fired. Nish'll kill us."

"She'll have to catch us first," Josh takes off running, literally, and blows a kiss over his shoulder just to make Ben laugh again. They're kind of no strings, all three of them, but Ben has to keep reminding himself of that to keep from falling for Josh when he smiles like that.

He watches Josh to the end of the hall, grinning when he pops back around the corner to give Ben a final wave, and then turns to go find his manager and get given whatever shitty task he's been assigned for the day.

Or he would, if he didn't immediately run slap-bang into some guy standing right behind him.

The top pops off Ben's cup and the drink explodes between them, showering them both in lukewarm coffee and almond milk. Ben's pretty sure he yelps embarrassingly before mortification takes over, while the guy (sandy-haired, tanned, handsome - Ben wishes his brain would _not_ spend time assessing whether people are fuckable or not when they're in dire situations) just sort of blinks at him in surprise as coffee drips from the bottom of his shirt.

"Oh shit, dude. I'm so sorry," Ben claps a hand over his mouth and then notices the guest pass… which is now _also_ dripping coffee from around the guy's neck. He's  _fucked_. "Oh my god, I'm so fired. Um, lemme-"

"It's okay, man. Totally my fault," the guy waves him off, swiping ineffectually at the coffee on his shirt and looking embarrassed, for some reason. It's not like _he's_  the intern who's just thrown coffee all over an actual professional guest. "I was looking for directions but you, um, you guys were cute. I didn't wanna interrupt."

"Oh, uh, sure," Ben feels like he's hovering, both wanting to help and wanting to get the guy off his floor before his boss sees his fuck up. "I can get you some paper towels or- I'm really sorry dude."

"It's fine, honestly. I won't tell on you," he shakes his head, seeming genuine, and Ben breathes out for the first time in a solid sixty seconds. He feels lightheaded with relief.

"Thanks. My boss already fucking hates me," Ben realises he shouldn't have said that when the guy snorts out a laugh, and he really needs to put some distance between this dude and the fearsome Mr Kowalski: Intern Annihilator. "Uh, where were you looking for?"

"Talk radio. It was called, um…" the guy fishes in his pocket for something, a note of the station name, but Ben's already pressing the elevator button.

"88.9. It's upstairs, this is local access news," Ben pushes the button again nervously, jumping when the doors suddenly open because he's a little highly strung right now. The guy has a funny look of affection on his face, and Ben kind of hopes he hasn't thrown coffee over someone who wants to hit on him. "Take a left when you get up there and then it's through the green doors. And watch out, apparently they've got some kinda asshole shock jock guesting today."

"Oh, I know. He's my co-host," the guy steps into the elevator with a _very_  amused smirk, and Ben's pretty sure he gets a good look at him trying to cringe into non-existence as the doors slide closed.

Ben spends the rest of the day caught between cringing and legitimately worrying that he's going to lose his job, but luckily Josh and Nisha both make it to lunch and manage to bully him into eating enough dumplings that he isn't hangry on top of everything else. At least they friends-with-benefits-love him, despite the fact he's awkward as fuck - Nisha doesn't even complain when he wakes her up three times that night with embarrassment-fuelled tossing and turning.

Kowalski calls Ben into his office the following morning and says one of the big city radio guys wanted to compliment 'the little intern' on his professionalism - the cranky old fuck even smiles at him, despite shooting a disapproving glance at his nails and their fresh coat of pale blue paint. Ben trips over his feet on the way out of the door… but at least he doesn't fall flat on his face.

Maybe he's starting to get the hang of this production thing after all.


End file.
